The first real moment was when I was around four or five years old. I heard a melody on a telephone line and it stuck with me. As I kept going back to music instinctively, I realised this wasn’t a phase, it was something I couldn’t imagine my life without,” says Meghalaya-born singer Daiaphi Lamare aka Reble, who recently graduated from Visvesvaraya Technological University in Bengaluru and is set to perform at Homegrown Music Showcase on February 20.
‘Pyaase-pyasse in mere labon ke liye….’ the lyrics roll in, and then her verse cuts through! The visual is cinematic and for a second, it feels more like the opening sequence of a documentary on Reble – grainy childhood visuals, a young girl staring at a receiver, sound travelling through wires and destiny humming in static. The music slowly fades and we are back to reality, but the focus remains on Reble, the name and the person behind it. “Reble represents a side of me that isn’t afraid to be loud, confrontational or honest. It’s tied to my ego, confidence and sometimes even anger. When I write or perform as Reble, I allow myself to say things I might otherwise hold back. But Reble isn’t separate from me – she’s a part of Daiaphi. They coexist.”
Growing up on a playlist swinging from Eminem’s ferocity to Andre 3000’s eccentric genius to Linkin Park’s angst, she absorbed lessons from each. “Eminem taught me rawness, emotional expression and technical ability. Andre 3000 taught me individuality; that you don’t have to sound like anyone else to be great. Linkin Park helped me vent. That mix is probably why my music doesn’t sit in one box,” she shares.
Reble started her music career in 2018, performing as Daya before rebranding to Reble and dropping her debut single Bad in 2019. Over the years, she has released tracks like Terror and New Riot and her first EP Entropy, gaining attention for bold lyricism. Her recent Bollywood debut with Dhurandhar, she says, arrived ‘organically and last minute,’ but carried the weight of a first. Writing rap verses over melodies inspired by classics could have been daunting, but she let excitement take the course. “Dhurandhar was my first Bollywood project, so that itself made it special. While writing, I focused on respecting the emotion of the original sound while bringing my own energy into it,” she notes.
Run Down the City – Monica, one of the Dhurandar songs, apart from Move – Yeh Ishq Ishq and Naal Nachna, allowed her to step further into performance. She describes approaching the track like playing a character. As this connection clicked, she says, the energy followed on its own. Similar is the case when she performs on stage, as she notes that there are times when she locks eyes with someone in the crowd who knows where she comes from and it ‘definitely feels special’.
Yet, the 24-year-old is conscious of how quickly the industry moves. “I’m aware of the pace, but I try not to let it control me,” she says, further sharing her themes of interest – inner conflict, identity, vulnerability and growth, which she wants to explore more. “I like uncomfortable emotions, things people don’t always want to talk about,” Reble adds. And for artistes from underrepresented regions watching her journey unfold, her advice is simple. “Where you come from is not a limitation, it’s a strength,” she signs off.